I am Aymeric, an enthusiast who has been following the Gladys project closely for some time now. However, buying and renovating my house ultimately pushed me to take the plunge into the smart home. As a web/mobile developer, technology particularly appeals to me, which makes this transition logical and exciting for me.
I recently opted for the starter kit offered by @pierre-gilles, which allowed me to officially get started.
I come from Côtes-d’Armor in Brittany, and I would be happy to connect with others from this region who share this interest.
Looking forward to hearing from you and sharing our experiences.
See you soon!
PS: If you’ve been in the same situation as me (full house renovation), feel free to share your best tips.
For renovation advice, I suggest running the neutral to all switches and bringing everything back to the panel (two-way switches, etc.) — it’s a bit more expensive but will be more flexible over time.
For the renovation, if it’s too late to bring all the wires back to the panel, it might still not be too late to install flush-mounted home-automation boxes like this!
Yes, Zigbee is mesh, but having the neutral at every switch is an undeniable plus—for example, to display our dashboard on a tablet mounted on the wall with a USB outlet next to it taken from the switch (impossible without a neutral, and it’s quite rare to put outlets up high except on countertops).
In fact, it allows you to put the module into the sleeve and thus avoid having to cram everything in with a shoehorn when you add a module to our 45 mm deep flush-mounted boxes.
Ah yes I see. Also, in @pierre-gilles’s training, he explains how to replace switches with connected ones without installing a module. I think that’s what I’m going to do, unless you tell me it’s much better to install a module.
Well, if you haven’t installed your flush-mounted electrical boxes yet you might as well get these flush-mounted home-automation boxes of this type Boite encastrement domotique XL Air'métic D67 P40 EUROHM - 52076 123elec.com the extra cost is €1 to €2 per box, it’s negligible on the total but it guarantees peace of mind for installing/placing the module!
That’s a choice in his case (already-built apartment with standard boxes) but you have to consider that if the connected switch breaks there’s no more control (but if you keep the original switch and you’re not called Mrs. Michu it’s not a problem — you just change it )
It’s up to you depending on what you want to install (integrated micro-module or connected switch for the lights and micro-module or connected plug for the sockets! )
You’ve got the possible options; saying that one or the other is better depends on your configuration — the final choice only you can make!
You also have to think about resale, because having only connected switches can be a deterrent.
Yes, you don’t plan on leaving your house or apartment, but when it happens we won’t have much time or the desire to reinstall physical switches. With modules, whether home automation is installed or not, it will work.
Audible click… I would have bet it was a module with a solid-state relay with zero-cross switching, but no — it seems to be a reed-type relay therefore with a coil, hence the audible click! Indeed, not great and not mentioned!
)